Steele, J. S. (2017). Noncognitive Factors in an Elementary School-Wide Arts Integrated Model. Journal for Learning through the Arts: A Research Journal on Arts Integration in Schools and Communities, 12(1).

Despite a growing body of literature examining the effects of arts exposure and participation for youth, little is known about the development of attitudes toward art in early childhood. This study uses an experimental research design to investigate the effect of arts exposure on the development of children’s attitudes toward art.

Drawing on theories and practices in literacy education, and in particular, the concepts of semiotics and transmediation, this research explores the possibility of arts-based experiences —such as image theater — in facilitating transformation of thinking in the context of global citizenship education.

The study tested the hypothesis that the arts might provide upper-elementary students, who were still concrete thinkers, with a powerful means of envisioning phenomena that they could not directly observe.

This article is based on a multiple embedded case study, the purpose of which was to explore adolescent choral students’ perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in an urban nonprofit children’s choir organization.

This article describes a study of art therapy and music education students participating in a single-semester service-learning assignments prior to their clinical internship or student teaching experience.

This study aims to assess the effects of a largescale music program on children’s developmental functioning in the context of high rates of exposure to violence using Venezuela’s “El Sistema” program which emphasizes social interactions through group instruction and group performances.

The Teaching Artist Project (TAP) is a literacy program that provides K–2 teachers with professional development in theatre and dance with the goal of helping teachers boost the oral language skills of English learners (ELs).

Several scholars have argued for the importance of aesthetic and autobiographic narratives to democratize the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) field and showcase varieties of minoritized perspectives.

This study uses statistics to demonstrate the results of a three-year arts integration project conducted by the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education’s (CAPE) Partnership in Arts Integration Research (PAIR) project in Chicago public schools.

This study examines the impact of the Whole Schools Initiative (WSI), an arts integration model for comprehensive school reform, on students’ academic performance as evidenced primarily by their scores on standardized state exams.

Arts Achieve: Impacting Student Success in the Arts is a partnership between Studio in a School, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), and four other premier cultural arts organizations from across New York City (NYC).

Researchers designed a qualitative study to evaluate the program design and implementation of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Arts Institute for Early Childhood Learning’s professional development (PD) program.

This qualitative case study examines the impact of an arts-integrated international collaboration the creativity of elementary school students when students are communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space.

The Kennedy Center’s CETA (Changing Education Through the Arts) program is a professional development partnership designed to support teachers’ employment of arts integration practices in their classrooms.

Building on previous research on the relationship between the arts and student engagement and achievement, researchers studied the impact of San Diego’s Teaching Artist Project (TAP) on the attendance and speaking and listening skills of children in kindergarten through second grade, with a focus on English Language Learners (ELLs).

This study examines the impact of two years of in-school music instruction on high school students from predominantly low socio-economic backgrounds as compared with their classmates who received an alternate, non-musical instruction.

This study, carried out in collaboration with the Harmony Project, a non-profit organization providing free music education to underserved children in Los Angeles, assessed the beat-keeping skills in a group of elementary school children (ages 6 – 9) who had received one year of musical training as compared to a similar group of children with no musical training.

The Partnerships for Arts Integration Research (PAIR) final report summarizes results from a four-year, federal Department of Education Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) project administered by the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) and the Chicago Public Schools from 2007-2010.

This study examines how long-term music training during childhood and youth effects the development of cognitive skills, school grades, personality, time use and ambition using representative data from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (SOEP).

Researchers from the University of Kansas sought to establish a baseline understanding of the effects of existing music programs in the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) in order to better understand the potential effects and implications of Music Makes Us, an enhanced music program launched in 2011 by the Mayor’s office, music industry leaders, and philanthropists.

This ethnographic study explores how communities can be more inclusive and supportive of seniors, specifically through the role of a community-engaged arts program, Arts, Health and Seniors (AHS), developed in Vancouver, Canada.

This quasi-experimental study assessed the levels of theory of mind (understanding others’ various mental states) and empathy (matching the emotional state of another) in students who took acting classes versus art or music classes.

This study examines the effects of an academic music intervention on conceptual understanding of music notation, fraction symbols, fraction size, and equivalency of third-graders from a multicultural, mixed socio-economic public school setting.

This two-year study undertaken by researchers at Lesley University (LU), funded by the Ford Foundation, examined the relevance of arts integration in today’s educational climate from the perspectives of teachers who completed a graduate program in arts integration at LU.

Building on a stream of educational research that has focused on the impact of the arts on performance in non-arts academic subjects, this three year longitudinal study investigated the impact of integrating theatre arts into the language arts and social studies curricula on fourth- and fifth-grade students’ cognitive, procognitive, and prosocial development through the Theatre Infusion project.

Noting several studies that have previously identified a positive association between musical instruction and intelligence, researchers in this study examine whether the relationship between musical study and intelligence may be mediated or influenced by a third variable, executive function—including abilities such as planning, focus, memory, task switching, and problem solving that control cognitive processes.

This mixed methods study examines the outcomes of Drama for Schools (DFS)—a professional development program that trains teachers to integrate drama techniques into their instruction—on participating middle school teachers and their students.

This qualitative case study examines how drama enactments of scientific concepts—in particular, matter and the food web in the forest—enhanced scientific learning in grades one, two, and three at five Midwestern elementary schools.

Two researchers and one teacher-researcher collaborated on an action research project aimed at exploring more effective ways to improve content knowledge about labor equality, dignity of work, the power of collective action, and principles of economic fairness addressing literacy skills within a visual art classroom.

The teacher-researcher and a team of research assistants used a case study method to investigate the effectiveness of an art history course for teaching multicultural understanding to college students.

This study looked at pre-service students’ perceptions of their background in formal music education and their confidence in teaching music lessons, with the goal of understanding the role that background and confidence play in promoting music education by general classroom teachers.

In this study, the researcher investigates the behaviors related to the development of artistic creativity and talent in 51 middleclass, suburban students who voluntarily attend a private afterschool drawing program in New York.

This quasi-experimental study examines the implementation of a performing and visual arts integrated arts professional development model (Art as a Way of Learning – AWL) within an integrated arts program (Promoting and Supporting Early Literacy through the Arts – PASELA) designed to improve literacy in three community-based early childhood education (ECE) settings.

This case study examines the phenomenon of mentorship within inner-city black rhythm tap dancing communities in New York City through an investigation of three different tap dance communities: “La Cave”, “Swing 46” and “On Tap.

The researcher draws upon over three years of extensive field study at a Computer Clubhouse (media arts studio) in south Los Angeles where underprivileged youth ranging in age from eight to 18 have access to programming environments utilizing graphic, music, and video production software.

Researchers in this paper voice a concern over the disconnect that pre-service teachers face between educational theory and practice and present a model for integrating authentic learning and arts-based learning as a means of enhancing pre-service programs.

The researcher used a descriptive case study to consider how and what kind of creativity is developed through participation in drama-integrated learning, and how students respond to creative pedagogy (using drama-based and imaginative teaching approaches to enhance learning with the goal of cultivating creativity) in a Taiwanese context.

This study explored the changes in 37 early childhood teacher candidates’ perceptions of how children construct and represent knowledge following repeated exposure to The Wonder of Learning: the Hundred Languages of Children exhibit.

The researcher collected data in the form of interviews from twelve first through fourth grade inner-city teachers who had participated in arts integrated lessons with their classes, to describe the impact arts learning had on developing students’ social scripts (culturally developed mental cues for how to act or respond in certain situations).

This study followed 57 early childhood education student teachers in a theatrical applications and physics education course to explore how theatre benefited the teaching and learning of scientific ideas.

The researchers used a quasi-experimental research design to investigate if students who received in-school keyboard lessons as part of a sequential music program would demonstrate greater gains on measures of vocabulary and verbal sequencing than students who did not receive keyboard instruction.

Researchers conducted a formative evaluation study to determine whether the use of a dramatic role play module introduced in core French classrooms resulted in an increase in motivation and desire to learn French.

This Canadian case study gathered data from interviews by the researcher with 33 former music students (one to six years after graduation) who had taken music as an optional subject during high school.

This study examines the cultural partnerships of teachers and artists participating in Quebec’s Culture in the Schools program to expand the presence of cultural dimensions (the arts, creativity, and cultural studies) in the schools.

This study is based on the researcher’s prior work analyzing data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS:88), a data set of information on approximately 25,000 secondary school students over four years, in which he found significant connections between involvement in arts learning and general academic success.

This study considers whether the traditional story comprehension or the theatre semiotics approach is a more effective means of preparing young children to experience and understand a theatrical performance.

This case study examines parent/caregivers perceptions of music in storytelling sessions provided in a public library to children under the age of five, including music activities and ideas parent/caregivers implemented in the home as a result of the sessions.

Researchers examined the effects of Readers Theater (performance reading) on the reading achievement and motivation of struggling eight grade students in a low socioeconomic neighborhood in a large metropolitan area in south Texas.

This study examines the association between instrumental music training in childhood and cognitive outcomes both proximally related to music (fine motor and auditory discrimination skills) and distally related to music (spatial, verbal, nonverbal, and mathematical skills).

This study uses neuroscientific methods to examine whether there are cognitive differences between performing arts and non-performing arts students and among students studying different performing arts, in particular between music students and theater students.

This case study examines the issues encountered while developing a career academy of the arts that integrates traditional college preparatory education with student-centered learning to foster personal growth, artistic development and democratic empowerment.

This qualitative study, guided by an action research framework, explores how urban middle school students, who are primarily Spanish-speaking English language learners, are able to utilize artwork as a means of free expression while learning a second language.

The researchers applied a collectivist theoretical framework to analyze human information behavior (HIB)* and the nontraditional role public libraries play in HIB through a knitting group held in an Ontario Public Library.

This study is an evaluation of The Arts in the Classroom Program which engaged 91 Kindergarten through sixth grade classroom teachers from a single school district in order to build their capacity to deliver standards-based interdisciplinary arts instruction to their students.

This study is an evaluation of the outcome—for students, teachers and teaching artists—of participation in the Solomon Guggenheim Museum’s Learning Through the Arts (LTA) program, a teaching artist residency program implemented in New York City during the 2004-2006 school years.

In this article, the researchers discuss findings of their study of Learning Through The ArtsTM(LTTA), a cross?Canada initiative that brings artists such as musicians, dancers, storytellers, actors, and visual artists into schools to work with teachers and students.

The summative evaluation of two years of the Arts for Academic Achievement (AAA) program examines student learning outcomes of arts-integrated instruction measured by standardized tests, as well as effects not captured by standardized tests.

This experimental study was designed to determine whether mathematics achievement varies between students who receive traditional Montessori instruction and students who receive music-enhanced Montessori instruction.

This study examines the extent to which academic achievement of grade 12 students is related to achievement and participation in music, including concert choir, jazz choir, concert band, orchestral, and jazz band.

Researchers used a quasi-experimental research design with pre-and post-test measures and treatment and control groups to investigate the effects of rich and sustained arts instruction on participating inner-city children’s self-efficacy (their sense of control of their surroundings) and creative thinking.

This quasi-experimental study considers the effects of drama instruction on pro-social behavior, learning processes, and attitudes toward drama for middle school children participating in an after-school drama program.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and an outside evaluation company, ILI, conducted research on the Gardner’s School Partnership Program (SPP), a multiple-visit museum education program for elementary school students.

This study first provides an overview of prior meta-analytical research about the notion of transfer between arts learning and non-arts domains, concluding that with only few exceptions, transfer could not be proved because existing studies yield insufficient evidence.

The researcher used a quasi-experimental design to assess whether an arts-based curricula facilitates English language acquisition for English language learners (ELL) and whether the gain in English language skills sacrificed proficiency in Spanish, the study subjects’ first language.

Researchers used a quasi-experimental research design to examine the impact of arts education on students involved in the after-school program HEARTS (Health Education in the Arts Refining Talented Students).

Teacher-researchers developed and implemented a dance-integrated curriculum in a primary class of seven-year-old children and observed the effects of dance education on the children’s acquisition of dance skills and their proficiency in creative thinking and problem solving.

This qualitative, arts-based research study examines adolescents’ experiences in a process drama program and explores the general decision making processes of junior high school students (grades seven, eight, and nine) related to their moral values.

A research team consisting of three teacher-researchers and two university researcher partners implemented and investigated a pilot study of a process drama program to understand the nature of the support that process drama offers to children’s development of writing skills.

The Learning Through the Arts (LTTA) program aims to revitalize elementary education by increasing engagement of students through arts integrated curricula developed by professional teaching artists in collaboration with classroom teachers.

Researchers provide preliminary results of a longitudinal study comparing 50 students taking music lessons and 25 students not taking music lessons to investigate if there are any differences in brain structure, function and/or cognitive skills in children who are beginning to study a musical instrument compared to the students who are not taking music lessons.

The researcher conducted a three-year longitudinal research study and evaluation entitled “Children’s Voices,” in which five to twelve year old children were exposed to live arts performances in order to learn what the impact of attending arts performances is on school-aged children in public schools.

The researchers conducted a qualitative study of a service-learning music-education partnership between a mid-sized university and a large public elementary school that did not have a music specialist.

Researchers used a naturalistic and case study model to examine and compare the museum theater-based and non-theater -based learning experiences of students in two United Kingdom history museums: the People’s History Museum (PHM) in Manchester and the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London.

The researchers used a blend of data collection methods from action research and linguistic anthropology to examine the learning environment in which students (ages four to seven) worked with a professional visual artist, one day per week for an entire academic school year.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and an outside evaluation company, ILI, conducted research on the Gardner’s multiple-visit program for elementary school students, the Museum’s School Partnership Program (SPP).

In this mixed methods study of 423 K-12 teachers from diverse school settings, the researcher gauges teachers’ attitudes about arts practices in their teaching who have had access to arts-based professional development.

This study seeks to identify creative talent in adolescents by looking at the quantity and quality of their experience in creative extracurricular activities, as measured by the Tel Aviv Activities and Accomplishments Inventory (TAAI).

Researchers developed a quasi-experimental research design to evaluate the impact of a dance-integrated reading program on first-grade students’ beginning reading skills, such as code knowledge (alphabet sounds) and phoneme segmentation (separating letter sounds from spoken words).

Queen’s University conducted a study of its professional development program for teachers “Teachers as Artist” (TAA), which entailed surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations gathered from 1996-2000.

This article describes a two-year-long case study of a seventh grade ancient world history social studies class in which the teacher used drama, along with other methods, as a central way to teach course content.

This report is part of a series of reports stemming from the comprehensive evaluation of the North Carolina A+ arts integrated school reform program, initially a four-year pilot program in 25 North Carolina schools spread across the state.

This report on the evaluation of the A+ integrated arts school reform program considers the program in the larger context of education reform, specifically using Shields and Knapp’s national standards and practice, a model judged by the A+ researchers as a promising practice for comprehensive school reform.

The purpose of this study was to quantify the results of existing research (from the period of 1950 to 1998) testing the claim that the study of the arts is associated with improved academic achievement.

The study investigates whether transfer occurs such that learning in the arts affects learning in non-art subjects and if there are effects, what they are, how they occur, and what circumstances within schools influence the realization of such effects.

The researchers use a case study approach to discover whether and how educators’ use of process drama contributes to the development of critical literacy skills for four- to eight-year-old students, some who speak another language in addition to English.

This study evaluates the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), a program that provided grants to schools to form partnerships between local artists, arts agencies, and teachers to integrate arts across the school curriculum.

The researchers studied three cohorts of students enrolled in the Young Talent Program, an arts program offering instruction in music and dance to students enrolled in New York City public schools beginning at grade three and extending outside of school into early adulthood.

Researchers conducted a case study of two fourth-grade boys in a special education class of students classified as “emotionally disturbed” to determine whether music listening could motivate these boys to improve in writing.

The researcher used a case study model and multiple assessments over the period of one year to determine the impact of art history instruction on the art historical interpretation abilities of elementary school students.

The study investigated whether students with disabilities involved in a creative drama program improved social skills, oral expressiveness, and receptive language skills compared to a group of students who were not involved in the program.

This study compared the effects of two types of writing planning activities, drama and drawing, against a traditional writing planning activity, discussion, on the quality of narrative writing from 63 primary grade students.

This study examines the effects of Suzuki violin lessons on preschool children’s development of attention and persevering behaviors, behaviors that increase students’ capacity to learn and rate of learning.

Researchers investigated how student participation in a theater class that put the students in charge of creating and implementing a theater piece affected student outcomes, such as classroom and library attendance, motivation to write, attitude toward school, and self esteem.

This study measured the growth of reading comprehension skills of 51 remedial fifth-grade students after exposure to a treatment of creative drama integrated with children’s literature reading material over a six-week period.

The Arts and High School Dropout Prevention project was designed to investigate arts teachers’ claims that students identified as being at risk of dropping out of school attend and perform well in their art classes.

This study outlines a brief intervention in which kindergarten and first grade students heard a story and participated in one of three story-related activities—drawing a picture, discussing the story with an adult, or acting out the story with three peers and an adult.

This study addresses the potential roles of imaginative play (or creative role-playing) on two foundational cognitive abilities of children initially identified by pioneering developmental psychologist and educational theorist Jean Piaget— “conservation” and “perspectivism.